Beaches at Popham Beach State Park and Fort Popham were closed for an hour Monday after what was believed to have been a shark fin was spotted in the water.

A lifeguard spotted the fin shortly before 2 p.m., according to Sean Vaillancourt, park manager at Popham Beach and lifeguard coordinator for Maine State Parks.

The fin was spotted offshore, parallel to Fox Island and near Wood Island.

Visitors were ordered out of the water, following standard park procedures, Vaillancourt said.

The fin did not reappear and beach-goers were allowed back in the water at 3 p.m.

This has so far been the only time this year that a possible shark was spotted near Popham, but sharks have been appearing around the southern Midcoast for the past few days.

Reid State Park in nearby Georgetown was closed for two hours starting at around 10 a.m. after a fin was spotted at Todd’s Point.

Last week in Harpswell, officials said a local fisherman was setting his gear a few hundred yards off Cedar Beach when he saw a shark surface. 

Cedar Beach on Bailey Island is one of the few beaches in Harpswell accessible by the public, and town staff raised a shark warning flag there.

Harpswell was the site of Maine’s only recorded fatal shark attack, which occurred in 2020.

Julie Dimperio Holowach was a summer resident and had recently retired as a fashion executive working in New York City. She had been swimming 20 yards off shore in Mackel Cove when she was attacked by a great white shark. She died from her injuries.